Exactly, Cricket.
We really thought that people who expressed "amazement" or gushed about DD were just... I don't know... 'sucking up' to us or something, I guess. You know, because all parents love to hear others tell them how remarkable their special snowflakes are.
Looking back, it was a combination of things that led us to more-or-less ignore the matter until it became unavoidable at kindy registration. We fully expected "bright" and probably even "MG" in our child(ren). But, as the saying goes...
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition... 
We found her funny and entertaining to be around, and we heard other parents share (grossly inflated) anecdotes about their kids, so we figured "sure-- DD is like that too" and they figured that WE were exaggerating when we were simply telling the unvarnished version of her antics...
As first-time parents without much experience of young children, it simply didn't seem that weird that other adults we knew enjoyed her company as well. She seemed to fit in effortlessly
everywhere, so she has always been the ultimate chameleon to those who don't know her well. Our colleagues who had children of their own often remarked on just how unusual she was, but we didn't think much of it. Don't all 3yo's sit quietly with a stack of books in a corner seat in faculty meetings for two or three hours?
